Junior Chamber Austria Aims to Lure London Startups to Vienna

The Junior Chamber Austria of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber wants the Vienna hub to profit from the decision of Great Britain to leave the European Union. For this purpose, the Junior Chamber Austria is inviting 20 startups from London to Vienna at the beginning of October in order to convince the founders to relocate their businesses from the Thames to the Danube.

The Junior Chamber Austria strongly believes that startups in London, especially in the financial technology (fintech) field, are in desperate straits due to the Brexit vote. Many startups would not be able to manage the burdens imposed upon them resulting from the upcoming exclusion from the European Union and thus the common market. Therefore they have no other choice but to look for a new business location.

Fintech startups lured with a pitch competition

Accordingly, Vienna is proactively wooing them on the basis of the “Startups Welcome” campaign. More specially, the Junior Chamber Austria wants to have 20 “selected top startups” travel from London to visit Vienna in the period October 5-7, 2016 in order to do some convincing. Applications may be submitted until September 9, 2016. Once in Vienna, the founders can expect presentations, a pitch competition, mentoring sessions and naturally the obligatory sightseeing tour to show the soft skills of the city.

Promotion page: Palm house instead of a “safe haven”

Vienna hopes to particularly impress the guests with its quality of life and central geographical location in Europe. For this purpose, the specially designed Website will underline other advantages of the Vienna eco-system. The Junior Chamber Austria is more cautious in its statements made to the target group. In contrast to press releases sent to Austrian media, the organization does not focus on Brexit, burdens on startups and Vienna as a “safe haven”. Instead, the Website highlights pretty photos of the Schoenbrunn Palm House and Belvedere Palace, naturally accompanied by caption, “Besides Mozart, Wiener schnitzel and apple strudel, Vienna has a lot more to offer”.